Unveiling Innovative Setups for Podcast and Video Production, with Stephen Robles' Podcast Studio

And on this episode, we are doing a studio tour of some really cool podcasting setups. And joining us today is Steven Robles, he is a video and podcast creator. He is the video producer and podcast producer at Riverside.fm, which, coincidentally, we are using to record this podcast. He's also the host and creator of the primary technology podcast. He does a bunch of tech videos, you know, talking about Apple devices, mobile technology, smart home devices, and then some.

So definitely encourage you to go check out his content on social media and on YouTube. Steven, thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me. It's fun to be here. So, Steven, how did you get into creating the primary technology podcast? What was kind of the impetus to start that? Know, I've been podcasting for 13 plus years, back when you had to hand roll your own XML feed in like a text file, and I've

always Done some kind of technology podcast. I'm just kind of a nerd at heart, you know, I love doing those kinds of shows, and so I was the host of the Apple Insider Podcasting for about 4 years. I got to start it actually in 2015 and then returned in 2020, did that for a number of years, and recently just left there and wanted to kind of do my own thing, really make push on the video podcasting front, and so we launched primary technology at the beginning of this year,

January 2024. We hit the Top 18 shows in Apple Podcasts for the tech category in our 2nd week of launch, then we just talk about, you know, all technology. There's a little bit of an Apple slant because we're both kind of Apple guys, but, we try to cover the whole technology landscape. And, yeah, it's a lot of fun. And I noticed as I was looking over your stuff, you've been, talking a lot about the VisionPRO, which at the time of this recording is gonna be hitting people's

doorsteps, and I think yours, this week. Right? I'll be, should be getting it Friday, February 2nd, on launch day, and I have some videos planned for it, of course. And then on the Riverside channel, I wanna, You know,

see what implications it has for podcasting. Obviously, right away, not much because, you know, there's not really a lot of apps stuff, but you can listen to Podcasting Vision Pro, and who knows with spatial video and other ways to capture that media, how it might affect podcasting in the future, especially as Podcasting really leaning into video nowadays, especially on YouTube and such. So, yeah, we'll see. Yeah.

I I agree with you. I mean, I can't imagine how it's gonna impact just the audio only podcasting universe other than being able to consume that content while Doing a bunch of other things that you can do on those glasses, but I'm sure there are some really interesting and creative ideas coming down the pipe for people who do video podcasts and other video content. So We'll be excited to check that out. So let's talk a little bit about

your tech stack. What do you typically use when you are recording your well, we'll call it Podcasting. We're talking about video and audio in this case. For sure. Well, I'm sorry I must share my screen. I could show a photo, kind of a wide shot of my editing area. And this is my desk. This is where I record all my content, Podcast, video content. And at the heart of it, of course, is the Mac Studio that runs everything. And when it comes to audio, I have a Rodecaster Pro Two of to the

side is my main audio interface. Going into that, I have, this microphone that I'm talking into now, which is the Earthworks Ethos. It's just my favorite mic for for podcasting. Also into that, I have a shotgun microphone, the Sennheiser MKH 416, which I use for all of my video content. So both of that going into

the Rodecaster Pro 2, into the Mac Studio. And then video wise, I use a Sony a74 with a Sigma 35 millimeter F1.4 lens, and that's what I'm using right now to record this video podcast, and then also All my video content, I record on that as well. And I also have a Sony a6400. It was one of my, kind of, first mirrorless cameras And I use it as a B roll camera, so it's kinda top down. And I have a Sigma 24 to 70 lens on that, which just makes it

easy to do those top down shots. Sony autofocus is rock solid, and so I never have to worry about that kind of stuff. Eye tracking on this main camera and, you know, center focus on the, B roll camera, and it it works out really well. And I see you're running all that through the, ? Blackmagic, Mini there? Yes. The ATEM, Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro is the switcher. You know, it has 4 HDMI HDMI

input. So I have the 2 cameras, input there. I also have an Apple TV, sometimes just to either screen record an Apple if there's a software update, I have that. And I also have my Mac Studio Tech display going to that, which I really use when I'm recording a video podcast. Sometimes I want to, like, Switch over if I'm doing a live stream, like, I'll be doing a live stream unboxing of the Apple Vision Pro, and I actually use The, top down camera and the screen share, all

of it, while I live stream through the the switcher. And you'll also see on the desk on the far left side, There's a Stream Deck and so I use that strictly to control the ATEM

because the ATEM is kind of far away from where I'm sitting to record. So I have this Stream Deck to adjust the switcher, but I also have the Stream Deck Pedal, which is really useful for switching because I can switch between my camera 1 and my camera 2, my top down shot, and I can use a 3rd button on the Stream Deck pedal with my foot to enable picture in picture. So I can quickly switch between my camera angles and put myself in picture picture, all

with my foot. So I can do all the unboxing, do the live stream, and really then it looks like a finished edit, just with my foot pedal and all the the switchers. So, Wow. Like, fantastic setup, and and this picture looks very clean,

very nice. One question I one, I had never even heard of the stream deck Foot pedal, that has gotta be valuable for video, producers, especially who are doing lots of different things and, you know, might be holding a product while they're talking about and doing a live stream or something like that. Right. Exactly. Yes. I noticed the 2nd mic, though, in your setup there off, right behind the one that you're using right now looks like a Shure 7 b. I have a Shure SM7B,

mostly to tell people not to buy it, for the most Tech. No, I'm just kidding. I did have a video on the Riverside channel that said overhyped. I have a few microphones as you'll see in this, photo, and, you know, the Shure MV 7, is a great microphone. That's actually what I use when I travel. I have to record. I'll throw that in my backpack. It's a

great mic for that. The Shure SM seven b, obviously, it's iconic. You know, every major podcast that you see with celebrities, they're using the SM7B, usually. I just find that for most people, even intermediate podcasters, as they're trying to get into podcasting, It it's so finicky of a microphone and takes so much other equipment. You know, most people might have a Scarlett 2I2 audio interface.

They try to plug in the Shure Samson b, and they wonder why they can't hear themselves or why the volume is so low, and people just are not aware of the gain needs for the SM7B. And you really need a cloud lifter or a Fed head or you need a powerful enough audio interface like a Rodecaster Pro 2 or something like that. Or that MixPre 3 I see in the bottom left corner of this picture. Yeah. I have a MixPre 3 as well, which was my audio interface before the The Rodecaster Pro

2. And both of those can run the SM7B no problem. But then I also find, like, the dip switches are finicky on the back of that and a lot of people's voices, including my own, if they're a little lower and timbre, that you don't get a lot of clarity or enough clarity for me, and you have to do a lot of EQ ing and post processing with it, and so I actually steer people to other microphones more more of the time. I am the exact same way. When I was working with clients

all the time. A lot of them wanted that s m seven b because they saw, you know, the Joe Rogans of the world using it and, right, every podcaster who had a video channel was a big deal had it. And, yeah, we just found that It was it it became so much, one, more expensive than what they expected and Cause a lot of problems, because once you add that Cloudlifter, once you add

that Fed head, now it's becoming a super sensitive mic. It's picking up all sorts of background noise, whereas As a dynamic mic, it really should be a little bit tighter. Right? It shouldn't be picking up as much. I I I try to get people to avoid that as well. I agree that m v 7, though, is a is a Great, great, entry level Shure mic not even entry level. I mean, it's a it's a high quality microphone, but

it's good for entry level as well. For sure. For sure. I also highly recommend the, Audio Technica ATR 21 100X as a USB mic. It's usually 60 or $70 on Samson, And for a lot of people, I mean, it could take you years into podcasting. Like, it really does sound great, and it has USB C connection as opposed to the Samsung Q2 U, which still has the mini USB. And I'm like, just give me USB c everywhere. I got all under that. You know

what? That's a really because I I Typically recommend the Samson as well, because I like the q nine u, which I'm not even sure if they're still selling anymore. Every time I go to look for it, it looks like they're they're out of stock. But good to know that 2100 x has the USB C, so I'll I'll update my recommendations as well because I I was a fan of that 2100 originally too. You know, I

have a podcast host. I do a movie Podcasting, and he's been using that microphone for, like, the last 6 years, and he sounds great and it's, you know, really forgive me. He's recorded in hotel rooms. He travels a lot, and it does great at a lot of room noise rejection. And now there's just so many tools, like AI tools to to make audio better. You can almost use those if you don't have the great setup yet, and it's a lot

cheaper. There's some even free tools out there. So Yeah. 100%. In fact, when I was traveling a little bit more for work, I always kept the 2100 in my laptop bag because, right, you just plug it in, Throw on some headphones, hold it up, and you're ready to go. I've done a few Podcasting hotel rooms and, you know, non ideal locations, and it came out sounding great. So I agree. If you're just getting started and you don't wanna I mean, everybody wants to invest $1,000 or so into their

setup. But for 60, $70, you know, Maybe a couple more dollars for a good stand and and a, you know, cheap pair of earbuds to put in it. You can't go wrong with those 2100 or or the

Samson. Depending on how much your setup is. For sure, and you know, a lot of times, something like a mic arm is going to be a better investment at first than buying, like, rather than buying a $250 microphone, Buy the $70 mic and get a mic arm, buy yourself a light if you're gonna do a video podcast, and that's probably gonna give

you a better Product upfront because, you know, for a long time, like, holding a USB microphone, not only is it tiring if you do a long podcast, but you're getting little clicks and pops, like in the USB cable. Like, it is you're gonna have all those things, and they're hard to edit out, and that's something the AI tools to give a bunch of pops and clicks, like, it's just not gonna do well. So, you know, get invest in a cheap microphone. Get, not a cheap, but get the ATR 2100 x. It's a good

microphone. Get it in its expensive mic arm, then it'll limit, like, Shocks and taps on your desk, and you can get a have a much better setup right away. I couldn't agree with you more. You're you're giving me a little PTSD from clients that I used to edit who would try handheld or, you know, all sorts of crazy setups without without a good mic armor or even, truthfully, even just a good mic stand. Right? That ATR comes with its own little tripod stand.

But, truthfully, you put that on your desk mic's pointing at your belly button, which doesn't really do you much good. Right? You need to get it nice up and close and personal for it to, for it to work well. I wonder, do you remember the 1st mic you ever used in podcasting since you've been doing this for a while? Oh, goodness. The 1st microphone, It was probably I had a Shure Beta 87 A as one of my earliest microphones. I got it because Marco Arment, he's a host on the,

ATP.fm Podcasting know, he also, runs Overcast, right? He built the app, Overcast. He's the sole developer there. Great podcast app. But he recommended that as, like, his number one pick for the Balance of cost versus quality, and there's still a lot of professional podcasters that use that microphone, like Jon Gruber, who does the talk show, another big Apple Podcasting uses the Shure Beta 878, and so

I invested in that, and I think I used that for many years. And from there, I actually went to the ATR 2100X just for ease of a USB mic, and then I don't even I have so many mics after that. I'm not sure what the progress was, but that short beta 87 a, I would still recommend for a lot of people. Solid mic, but XLR only. So you need an audio interface, and then you get into that whole world too. Yeah. I remember when I first got started, the audio interface game was, Tech

quite as generous. It could Tech quite as easy as it is today with all the various RODE products or just the mics with their own built in, interface, essentially. So, yeah, that's a fantastic setup. When it comes to video, right, you have very nice expensive cameras there.

You know, we had great recommendations for that 1st time mic usage. What would you say to folks who were thinking about jumping into video who cannot invest the kind of money that, You know, folks like yourself can into those, you know, high-tech Sony cameras. I mean, nowadays, like if you have an iPhone And most modern Android phones, like, that's the best video quality you're gonna get before you

jump to a mirrorless camera. I've tried many, many webcams, including the nice webcams that are several $100, that are 4 ks, and none of them perform as good as an iPhone. And with Continuity Camera, you

can use your iPhone as a webcam with no third party app required and it looks great and you can do it with Riverside. So honestly, I tell most people, like, when you think about your budget and what you're gonna invest in, If you have a modern iPhone, like iPhone 11 or newer, that's your camera until you're ready to spend about $1,000. Now after the iPhone, I think the Sony ZVE 10. Which that's a you know, the camera's around 800, $900. Buy refurbished.

You know, that's another thing too. If you're starting out with equipment, don't shy away from buying, like, good refurbished, you know, from trusted brands. Amazon sells refurbished products, B and H photo. Buy refurbished. Like, it's okay. And the Sony ZV E10 is sub $1,000, But what's key is it has that Sony autofocus, which is on point, and it has an interchangeable lens. So you can upgrade your lens later if you want kind of that Blurry

background or bokeh Tech, you can buy a nicer lens. I would recommend the Sigma 16 millimeter f1.4, which is about 3 or $400 with that camera. And you can have video that looks very similar to what I have right now for about $1100. And so I would do iPhone until you're ready to invest about that in the Sony ZV E Tech. You know, I I know iPhone does the continuity camera, and I just I've had my Logitech BRIO just Set up. It's so easy. It's it's right here.

And I know it doesn't always work optimally with Riverside and some other platforms. Right? It claims 4 k, but it it never really produces that when you're using some of these online platforms. So I might actually give that a try. I might go continuity camera and see, how easy it is and and what the difference is. Those Sony, by the way, CV e tens, we were doing a Studio build. And we

were messing around with a bunch of cameras. We went up settling on those, and, yeah, could not be happier with the quality you get for the Price, the flexibility, the versatility. I would also recommend getting, one of those battery like, plug in battery pass so you don't have to worry about Running out of power with that, that'll make all the difference. And a few setting tweaks there, and it really is just the perfect camera for podcasting, especially when you're 1st getting started out

now. Don't take it on the road with you. Don't move around with it. It does not handle movement very well. But as a stationary streaming camera, Chef's kiss right there. And and I would say, you know, to the continuity camera iPhone thing, continuity camera maxes out at 1080p. It's not 4 k, But your listeners and

viewers have to realize, like, 4 ks is not everything. You can have 4 k resolution, but not good white balance, not good low light performance, You know, unable to focus on your face quickly and 4 k, but having all of those problems, like, I've tested a lot of 4 k webcams and they have those issues, It's not gonna have a good end product. And the reason why I suggest things like continuity cameras, the iPhone is great in in an unideal

lighting conditions. It's great at focus and it's great at white balance, and then you just don't even have to think about it. And if you want to add that little blur portrait effect, It's not perfect, also depending on your hair and background and all kind of stuff, but it does really well. So yeah. Nice. Yeah. That's That's, all solid points of the iPhone does, well, and even the, the Android cameras too. They all do a really nice job of just making it Easy. Right? Just

user friendly. Don't have to think too much about it. Well, this is great. I I mean, you have a fantastic Set up some great equipment there, some fantastic suggestions for folks who are trying to move into a more professional level, but also those just getting started. So really appreciate that. Before we let you go, let me fire a few quick questions at you that we're gonna be asking everybody. So one is, is there any tech On your wish list right now,

like, is there a microphone? Is there a camera? Is there something out there that you just you wanna get? You're like, Maybe it's out of budget. Maybe it's not available or or whatnot. Just but it's something that you definitely wanna get your hands on. There's, there's 3 things, that I'd really like. 1 doesn't exist, but I want it, which is a Blackmagic ATEM pro video switcher like I have, but 4 k. So Okay. Probably just at about 10 Tech p versus 4 k. I would love a 4 k version

of that video switcher. I don't know why it's taking them Yeah, I don't know why it's taking them so long, but I'm hoping for that. That's 1.